On June 8th is World Oceans Day. It's a day to celebrate the role of the oceans on Earth and to raise awareness to protect the ocean. The following provides Ocean Theme Printables, Templates and Activities that can be implemented into the curriculum for children.
About World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day, celebrated on June 8, is a fantastic opportunity to introduce young children to the importance of ocean conservation in a fun and engaging way. Early childhood education plays a crucial role in fostering a love for nature and a sense of responsibility toward protecting marine life.
Why World Ocean Day Matters in Early Childhood Education
- Helps children develop an early appreciation for the ocean and its ecosystems.
- Encourages hands-on learning through sensory activities, crafts, and storytelling.
- Supports sustainability education by teaching kids about pollution, marine life, and conservation.
Activities
- Ocean Layers Of The Sea - Children will learn and discover the various layers of the ocean along with where marine animals live.
- Jellyfish In A Bottle - Children can create their own jellyfish and learn about these fascinating sea creatures.
- Ocean Waves In A Bottle - Move the bottle to create ocean waves, just like out in the deep blue sea.
- Oil Spills In The Ocean - Teach children about how oil spills happen, their effects on ocean habitats, and how difficult they are to clean up.
- The Rainbow Fish - The Rainbow Fish is a free story for Educators to download and read to young children. It is a story about a beautiful, colourful shiny fish that loves his scales, that he doesn't want to share.
Printables
- Ocean Animals Tracing Pictures - Ocean Animals Tracing Pictures enables children to trace over the lines to create a picture of an ocean animal. These also can be laminated to be reused.
- Sea Animals Colouring Pages - Free colouring pages of sea animals. Colouring pages enables children to develop good pencil grip as they practice holding a pencil while colouring. Children also develop their hand-eye coordination and support children to concentrate and focus.
- Ocean Animals Facts Posters - Ocean Animals Facts Posters provide simple facts on ocean animals for children to understand. It can be used as a discussion point for children who show an interest in ocean animals. These posters can also be used in a display.
- Ocean Animals Tangram - Ocean Animals Tangrams enable children to use tangrams to create ocean animals. The shapes can be positioned to create ocean animals. If tangrams are not available within the learning environment there is a second page of tangram shapes for each sea animal that can be laminated cut out and positioned onto the sea animal.
- Ocean Number Colouring - Ocean Number Colouring enables children to colour in numbers 1 to 10. This includes the number, number name and the amount of sea creatures.
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Ocean Shadow Flashcards - Ocean Shadow Flashcards enable children to match each ocean animal with their shadow. Shadow matching enables children to develop visual discrimination skills and analyse the shapes of sea animals to match one another.